Water for Wanni

Oru Paanai has launched a new project to provide water for the people of Wanni.

In the past 6 years, we have worked in the Wanni to bring relief and assistance to the people recently resettled in the area. In our rehabilitation work, we have found that the scarcity of water has been a major obstacle in resettling the displaced, both in terms of household needs as well as in cultivation.

It has been heartening to note that nearly all displaced people without land have been given small pieces of land, ranging in size from 10 to 20 perches to 1 or 2 acres. Many have also been fortunate enough to receive assistance to build homes.

Most people, however, did not have their own supply of water. Even the few that had conventional wells did not have water during the dry season (June/July/August). Last year’s prolonged drought was devastating, and young coconut, areca nut and banana trees withered away due to the lack of water.

Water for home cultivation was never considered by the authorities to be an important basic need for the people of Wanni. There have been no plans to provide water to peasants who are agricultural manual workers.

The provision of sufficient water for basic domestic needs and home cultivation (‘Veettu thottam’) in rural homes, will go a long way towards alleviating poverty and hunger. It would also have the added benefit of encouraging the production of food for home and community.

There is no doubt that if these families had sufficient water for home cultivation, they could make significant headway in the recovery of their livelihood. Interest free, easy repayment loans will be made available to those who need funds to develop home cultivation, animal husbandry or a cottage industry.

A ‘Veettu thottam’ with a few coconut trees, and vegetables such as aubergines, okra, runner beans, corn, green chillies, ground (pea) nuts etc would be more than just for subsistence. It could well make poverty and hunger a thing of the past.

We believe that deep Tube wells with appropriate attachments, could be provided at affordable prices.

We would aim to provide 1000 wells in the next few years. This would require a major fund raising effort involving international aid agencies and / or Government grants.

With the above in mind, we in Oru Paanai are launching a pilot project to drill 10 tube wells in the Wanni. The pilot is estimated to cost £10,000/-

We have Ministerial support in this venture, which is essential for sustaining this project in the medium and long term. Cabinet Minister D. M. Swaminathan has pledged his personal support. He will facilitate access to the data already in the possession of statutory bodies such as the Water Resources Board, which will be helpful in planning the details of this project.

We are appealing to you to make a contribution to help us run a pilot to build ten wells. This would enable people who receive this support to become self sufficient, instead of remaining supplicants dependant on the largesse of the general public and the government forever.

If you agree with our views and are able to help, please send us a cheque, payable to ‘Oru Paanai Water’. Or, if you would like to contribute direct via BACS, the sort code is 20-82-70 (Barclays Bank) , a/c no. 33770001.

If you are a UK tax payer and wish to Gift Aid your contribution please complete and post this Gift Aid form.

Thank you so much. Your help is greatly appreciated – it will help the hapless people in the Wanni who have suffered so much in the past 35 years and are now trying to rebuild their lives.